Hey, I tend to think like you, Hans (and Tresa). But it is the only news we have heard about the movie in some time, from someone that talked to AMC. Now whether AMC has heard anything, or she is just being hopeful...

Hans, you would be in a better place than the rest of us to find out.

And the company just had a suspense film, Splice, that opened a few weeks ago. But to be honest, the problems with MGM is probably delaying a lot of movies (and those other than The Hobbit).

I'm also not holding my breath. Nothing against Copperheart, but I'll believe it when I see trailers for it. I think we'll be waiting a while--they'd be idiots to try and time it to go against something like "The Hobbit" or the second half of "Deathly Hallows" even if they could get it made that fast.

They were planning at one stage to put it on tv, even got as far as writing out the script which I think Cheryl found and brought BUT that was as far as it got. There is a stageplay of Dragonsong which Sjslack hopes to produce on stage this year. Haven't heard of anything else though.

In this case, the new information, I think, is that someone is now officially doing the screenplay adaptation from the book, "Dragonflight", to the movie.

Quote:

Steven Hoban's Copperheart Entertainment has closed agreements with David Hayter and Benedict Carver's Dark Hero Studios, Don Murphy and Susan Montford's Angry Films and Entertainment One to adapt the classic science fiction/fantasy novel "Dragonflight" by Anne McCaffrey into a feature film....Hayter (X-Men, X2: X-Men United and Watchmen) will pen the screenplay. Hoban and Carver will produce the film with Murphy, Montford and Hayter executive producing. Patrice Theroux negotiated for Entertainment One to handle distribution in Canada and is in discussion to acquire a number of other territories including the UK, Benelux and Australia. "Dragonflight" will be an international co-production, financed by several distribution partners around the world in much the way "The Lord of the Rings" was put together. Production is scheduled to begin early 2012. No director is currently attached.

Dragonflight, the first in the Dragonriders of Pern series, features an elite group of warriors take to the skies on the backs of giant, fire-breathing, telepathic dragons to save the wondrously exotic planet of Pern from a terrifying airborne menace.

From the Weyr and from the Bowl
Bronze and Brown and Blue and Green,
Rise the dragonmen of Pern,
Aloft, on wing, seen, then unseen.
Dragonman avoid excess
Greed will bring the Weyr distress;
To the ancient Laws adhere,
Prospers thus the Dragon-weyr.

if Hollywood can turn animation like "Guardians of Ga'Hoole" for realism, and cartoons like "How To Train Your Dragon", there is no reason why they cant do Dragonriders.

i have a feeling that what will happen is that one of two things will happen
1) AMC dies, and Todd sells off the rights to the lowest bidder, so we get stuck with garbage like the first Tolkien toons, and the messed up LOTOR movies

or

2) AMC gets desperate for money, and does the same thing....hopefully, retaining some artistic control over what is done with her world.

i hope for the second outcome, personally. i would rather the author have a hand in the work.

i liked the beginning,in the first movie, where they show the ordinary life of the hobbits. but after that, the focus of the movies as a whole seemed to shift to feature battles-and not always accurately, at that. not to mention throwing in extra stuff that was never in the books, like Aragorn going off a cliff, and Frodo messing around in that city, nearly getting caught.

i used to be a big LOTOR fan-grew up on it, listening to stories about Tolkien and the Inklings told by a priest of our parish who taught at the same college as Tolkien, and knew him rather well. but i made the mistake of marrying a 'Tolkien freak' (my name for someone who goes overboard from fan/enjoyer to fanatic). now i loathe the books and movies, and leave the room for the bedrroom, where i can read or watch something quieter, that i havent had to watch a million times...my husband passed it on to our kids, like a gene, and 5 fanatics in the house is 5 too many for me! i keep trying to convince them there are other books and movies out there...

but it was only this winter that i got my daughter into AMC. now she has her walls plastered with printed out pics of Robinton, AMC with the firelizard on her shoulder, and other Pern pics!

if Hollywood can turn animation like "Guardians of Ga'Hoole" for realism, and cartoons like "How To Train Your Dragon", there is no reason why they cant do Dragonriders.

i have a feeling that what will happen is that one of two things will happen
1) AMC dies, and Todd sells off the rights to the lowest bidder, so we get stuck with garbage like the first Tolkien toons, and the messed up LOTOR movies

or

2) AMC gets desperate for money, and does the same thing....hopefully, retaining some artistic control over what is done with her world.

i hope for the second outcome, personally. i would rather the author have a hand in the work.

Anne and Todd don't own the rights to a Pern film. Copperheart Entertainment does until either they let their option lapse or the McCaffreys try to buy it back, and per the latest press release, Copperheart's at least serious enough to have named someone to do a script treatment (the writer for X-men, X2, and Watchmen.)

after going to the Copperheart site, i hate to say, but i think the McCafferys did go to the lowest bidder. i truly hate to see this wonderful series of books, wonderful characters, in the hands of a company that looks like all it has produced are bloody stabber flicks

Quote:

Originally Posted by Anareth

Anne and Todd don't own the rights to a Pern film. Copperheart Entertainment does until either they let their option lapse or the McCaffreys try to buy it back, and per the latest press release, Copperheart's at least serious enough to have named someone to do a script treatment (the writer for X-men, X2, and Watchmen.)

if Hollywood can turn animation like "Guardians of Ga'Hoole" for realism, and cartoons like "How To Train Your Dragon", there is no reason why they cant do Dragonriders.

i have a feeling that what will happen is that one of two things will happen
1) AMC dies, and Todd sells off the rights to the lowest bidder, so we get stuck with garbage like the first Tolkien toons, and the messed up LOTOR movies

or

2) AMC gets desperate for money, and does the same thing....hopefully, retaining some artistic control over what is done with her world.

i hope for the second outcome, personally. i would rather the author have a hand in the work.

The realism of the flying owls was just amazing and realistic in 'Ga'Hoole'. The technology for purty pitchers is there. As always it depends on the quality of the adaptation of the books. It's impossible to translate an entire book into a movie with the restrictions of time. Some editing is inevitable.

I'm excited by the news though I'm trying not to get my hopes too high. But David Hayter was involved in Watchmen and that was very faithfully adapted. Plus, Anne posted that his wife is a major Pern fan which might give him some extra incentive to stick to the work and to be faithful to the books.

And it's not like the owner of the property gets to pick (unless you're Joanne Rowling or *gag* Stephenie Meyer and even THEY didn't have even close to total creative control.) The production company has to want to buy the rights, and the director/producer has to want to do it. I think it's a pretty easy call for Peter Jackson--hm, "The Hobbit", one of the most beloved books of all time and a prequel to his most fantastically successful Oscar-winning movie project EVER, or...a book about dragons from 1968 with a devoted but fairly small following that runs the risk of competing with the sequel to a popular animated dragon movie in theaters?

Firstly, let me say I loved PJ's treatment of LOTR. While he did add to some characters and change others, it was done well and tastefully and made the movies the economic success they were. I was really disappointed the Tom Bombadil character was omitted, but it would have been impossible to keep everything from the books in the films.

I have not seen any of the other films discussed here, Eragon etc. so cannot comment on them. But give Copperheart a chance and see what they come up with.

Personally I think NZ would be the perfect place to film the book(s). The south island is just amazing, I have been twice in the last couple of years and it is truly awe inspiring.

I do hope they try and get both closed caption and audio description
What is Audio Description?

Audio Description involves the accessibility of the visual images of theater, television, movies, and other art forms for people who are blind, have low vision, or who are otherwise visually impaired. It is a narration service (provided at no additional charge to the patron) that attempts to describe what the sighted person takes for granted -- those images that a person who is blind or visually impaired formerly could only experience through the whispered asides from a sighted companion.

In theaters, in museums, and accompanying television, film, and video presentations, Audio Description is commentary and narration which guides the listener through the presentation with concise, objective descriptions of new scenes, settings, costumes, body language, and "sight gags," all slipped in between portions of dialogue or songs.

How Do I Receive the Audio Description?

•In theaters and similar venues, the user hears the audio description via a small earpiece or earphones connected to a tiny receiver.
•For live performances, a trained Audio Describer transmits the descriptions from elsewhere in the theater often using a court stenographer's mask microphone (picture right, describer holding mask mike to mouth).
•For movies, the description generally has been prerecorded and synced to the movie soundtrack (though sometimes this is done live).
•For television, the audio description is termed video description in the USA and has historically been transmitted to the user via the Second Audio Program or SAP channel on their TV or VCR, which must be capable of receiving SAP signals. Most TVs and VCRs manufactured since the early 1990s are equipped to receive SAP, which is usually activated through the MENU button on the remote. However, with the transition from analog to digital TV, things are changing. See Accessing Audio Description on Your TV.
•For videos distributed on DVD, the audio description, when available, is accessed via the DVD menu for the movie as a special feature of the Languages menu. The track can often be located simply by repeatedly pressing the Audio button on the remote.
•Some libraries distribute DVDs or VHS tapes of older movies with audio description added. Such media are also available for purchase at a few places. See the links at the bottom of Audio Described Movies.